Barnaby Joyce owes me a beer

Monte Dwyer writes that Barnaby Joyce is a completely different tomato, a career politician who knows an opportunity when he sees one, who is acutely aware of the prevailing winds of populism sweeping the world, and who owes me a beer.

A FEW YEARS AGO I attended the victory party of a friend who won a seat in the State Parliament. It was a raucous affair, as winners’ parties were, and fighting on the way to the bar was not for the faint of heart.

As a result, when I returned to my group with a new tour, I was unaffected by the intervening events. Barnaby Joyce He drank one of the beers—my beer when time expired—and forced me to line up at the bar again.

Fast forward about ten years and I recently had the opportunity to remind Barnaby that he still owed me that beer, he got angry at the imposition and turned his back on me.

It was rude, yes, and if it wasn’t a funeral I might have pushed the issue further, just to see if I could make him blush even more.

Now he’s hitched his wagon Pauline HansonOne Nation Party to help give Australia its own version of the US MAGA or England Reformor whatever brand of right-wing politics you want to equate it with. This is not a marriage made in heaven.

Hanson is leading with a chip on his shoulder and a bit of grievance between his teeth, and I expect the One Nation Party to implode again, as it did in most of the QLD State Parliament seats in 1998; especially now that most of the city is courting him (watch out for the talented planes, Pauline) and he’s raving about becoming Prime Minister.

Barnaby is a completely different tomato. He is a career politician who knows an opportunity when he sees it and is keenly aware of the winds of populism sweeping the world.

It did not attract One Nation’s attention because of its policies; some even claim that he is still in his pre-political, stone-throwing stage, and that Joyce’s recent housing policy blunder will support this argument – he joined because he read the big room. People around the world are staying away from mainstream political parties, looking for quick-fix alternatives, and Barnaby is positioning itself to benefit from this trend.

To this point I’ve recently ‘taken a journey’Red‘, the USA is trying to understand why Americans voted for Trump for a second term.

From my perspective, his questionable behavior during his first term alone should have disqualified him from any other post in the White House. I was wrong though. Among the many causal factors I discovered were disenfranchised voters who were so desperate for change that they fell in love with an unpredictable trickster with criminal tendencies and self-serving motives and made him their president (again).

And now they’re so messed up domestically and geopolitically that it’s hard to see any positive outcomes for the American people (except for the Epstein class, of course).

We’ve been hearing rumblings lately that Australia is going down the same path. Leaving aside the fact that we have a much better parliamentary system and are less likely to result in a head of state resorting to subterfuge and making (bad) unilateral decisions, it is true that many people are disillusioned with the status quo and are looking for a messianic alternative with simple messages that everyone can understand.

But there’s a cautionary tale here.

As an American journalist and social commentator H.L. Mencken Observed about a century ago:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President more and more closely represents the inner spirit of the people. On some great and glorious day, the common people of the country will finally achieve their heart’s desire, and the White House will be occupied by an outright idiot and a complete narcissistic moron.”

Democracy is under threat all over the world. As our attention span shortens, we become less inclined to think deeply and consider alternative perspectives. We want our information to be delivered short, sweet, and with confirmation bias.

This creates fertile ground for populist politics, where clever vocalization becomes more important than the message itself. And it’s tempting to believe that there really is a simple solution to the complex management issue.

But no. Managing people is complex. Solving problems requires clear thinking, time and, ideally, experience.

I have yet to see a populist movement prepared to apply anything resembling these qualities for the good of humanity.

So whether Barnaby and Pauline live happily ever after or not, she’ll be doing herself a favor by remembering that most Australians still believe in a fair verdict, and that means shouting when it’s your turn.

Monte Dwyer is a freelance journalist/writer best known in Australia as a roving weatherman on the Today Show, a role he held for long enough to require therapy.

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